- 1,102
Introduction
I love reading write ups and logs, I thought I would play my hand at creating one. I've seen alot of b-spec strategy write ups, and in depth car comparisons (Hiroke's NSX vs. Espirit comes to mind). What I haven't seen is anyone attempting a write-up during an endurance race, especially one as long as this (except for the one guy that did Nurb 24 hours straight with 3 friends). During a quick practice, my laps were around 2:0#:000, using the same car I will be for the race. There's 172 laps, so do the math; 172 x 2 minutes per lap = an estimated 344 minutes. It's going to take me around 6 hours to complete this race. Why would anyone do such a thing? Few reasons: My main reason being that I want to test my limits. I don't know how hardcore everyone else, but from what i've seen there's not too many guys out there willing to A-spec a race this long in one attempt. So this is it, I hope everyone has fun flaming me and/or following along.
Materials
1 setup (picture)consisting of a dfp, a 27' tv using an S-Video connection to my ps2, and a computer by my side.
1 playlist containing my fravourite mp3s.
1 mini fridge stocked full of Sprite for my disposal.
3-7 Food items (Cookie Crisp, Scooby Doo Fruit Snacks, Other various munchies)
1 test subject (myself
)
Weapon of Choice
Car: BMW M3 GTR Race Car
Mods: None, nothing but what it came with and a set of R1's.
I wanted to use something that will fit amongst the competition. I thought the M3 GTR Race Car fit perfectly, giving me 122 A-spec points. I don't plan on winning, if I loose I can always b-spec it again. (My rule is, race the race a-spec first, then b-spec it if it needs to be redone.) Oh yeah, all aids turned off.
Competition
Other than myself, i'll be racing against
2000 Ford Falcon XR8
Toyota au Cerumo Supra '01
Mazda RX-8 Concept LM Race car '01
Nissan Pennziol Zexel GT-R '01
Honda Takata Dome NSX '03
Strategy
To win? I have no strategy other than to simply race. I'll pit when needed and that's about it.
and now for the good part. I'll be updating each entry every half hour, taking around 5 minutes to answer questions, provide race details, report mental status, and respond to any comments.
Log
Time: 6:30
Laps: 0
I've fatened myself, drained my body of all waste, and have prepared myself to begin on a 6 hour journey. Enjoy...
Time: 7:00
Laps: 14
So far so good. I had fun during the first 5 laps making clean passes. The Supra was alot of fun to chase. He always pulled on the straights, but lacked in turns (ignorant a.i.). After I made my move, the rest has been trying to pull a best lap. I've gone off the track a few times, really trying to push corners and testing out my boundaries. So far 2'02.708's the best, and i've got a 14 second lead, with the Supra trailing. A few cars have pitted being the Ford and the Rx-8. I'm going to soon, back tires are turning into the red state. I might do it earlier than necessary, just to give up the lead. It's alot more fun playing cat and mouse. One thing i've noticed, the a.i always goes off the track coming out of the 2nd corner of turn 5. Makes for an easy place to pass. Entering turn 8 sucks, it feels really awkard.
Time: 7:30
Laps:24
I pitted on my 15th lap. If I pushed for one more lap, my tires would have been gone. I forget how quickly they wear once they're past the yellow mark. Everyone pitted the previous lap, so I still maintained the same lead. Still the same best time. On Lap 23 I spun out on turn 8 (hate that turn). Costed me my 14 second lead, now im 2 seconds behind the Rx-8. I've been pulling in tiny increments for the past turns. I'll have him soon, at least now I have someone to race for entertainment.
Time: 8:00
Laps: 33
As I was catching back up the Rx-8, he pitted. I spent most of my time just racing to get laps done, not really shooting for times. I'm starting to zone out, where i'm not thinking about the turns. Around the 30th lap I pitted, now the Rx-8 has the lead. It's easy to pull during the complex turns like 2 - 5, and then 11 and 12, but in the lengthy turns they seem to have the upper hand. I closed the 3 second gap I had from pitting on the third lap, now half a second behind. Just have to wait for a good time to make a clean pass. One last thing, I had to take a short break. Not because I wanted to, but because I forgot to do laundry.
Time: 8:30
Laps:42
Starting to get tiresome. I chased the Rx-8 for a few labs before I was able to make my move. I'm starting to get slower laptimes, because i'm not really trying. I run off on the grass more often. I'm pitting now, so hopefully someone will pass me to give me a bit of a challenge.
Time: 9:00
Laps: 55
Getting bored. I put Spirited Away on my computer to pass the time. Yeah, I know it's cheating. I pulled a new best time, 2'01.433. After I pitted on the previous entry, the Rx-8 passed me. I caught up, and in a fight I accidently pushed him off the track. Oh well. Pitting now so he'll have his chance to re-take the lead.
Time: 9:30
Laps: 64
My bones and joints are getting sore. Rx-8 has the lead. I spun out after pitting, giving the Rx-8 a 40 second lead. It pitted but I was still 20 seconds behind. Each quarter I pull 2 seconds closer. I keep spinning out, but i'm tryin gmy hardest to catch up. I feel that spin I took is going to cost me first place . Oh well
Rest of the Log:
I'm writing all of this from memory. I ended up trying so hard to catch the Rx-8 that I forgot to keep entering logs. Needless to say, after about an hour of really focusing, I just couldn't keep up. My pits were out of synch with his. It seemed like there was no hope. After I realized I wasn't going to win, I went back into zone out mode. My driving was done involuntarely by my muscles. After awhile of this, just slowly cruising and mainting second, I spun out badly. I fell back to third place, with the NSX about 30 seconds ahead. For the next hour (5th hour) I was just messing around with him. At this point I was so bored, so tired, and my bones were completely stiff. It was getting late too and I had school the next day . I kept pushing on, watching The Big Lebowski ("are these the nazi's Walter? No Donnie, these men are nihilist."). During the last hour I was completely out of it. I don't remember much. After the half way mark, I don't remember anything. It's a blur of downshifts and trying not to loose it on turn 8 (that night I swore one day I will visit the actual Suzuka Circuit and piss on that turn). I ended up finishing the race around 3:30. I was mentally toast, and more so physically toast. My joints were in pain, mostly my legs from the awkard position caused by the low chair and low pedal level. I woke up for school still in pain, and during the course of today i've been in pain, but hey it was worth it. I just wish I would have kept the details going so that I could read them today, in a normal state of mind. Fun stuff though (no not really).
I love reading write ups and logs, I thought I would play my hand at creating one. I've seen alot of b-spec strategy write ups, and in depth car comparisons (Hiroke's NSX vs. Espirit comes to mind). What I haven't seen is anyone attempting a write-up during an endurance race, especially one as long as this (except for the one guy that did Nurb 24 hours straight with 3 friends). During a quick practice, my laps were around 2:0#:000, using the same car I will be for the race. There's 172 laps, so do the math; 172 x 2 minutes per lap = an estimated 344 minutes. It's going to take me around 6 hours to complete this race. Why would anyone do such a thing? Few reasons: My main reason being that I want to test my limits. I don't know how hardcore everyone else, but from what i've seen there's not too many guys out there willing to A-spec a race this long in one attempt. So this is it, I hope everyone has fun flaming me and/or following along.
Materials
1 setup (picture)consisting of a dfp, a 27' tv using an S-Video connection to my ps2, and a computer by my side.
1 playlist containing my fravourite mp3s.
1 mini fridge stocked full of Sprite for my disposal.
3-7 Food items (Cookie Crisp, Scooby Doo Fruit Snacks, Other various munchies)
1 test subject (myself
)Weapon of Choice
Car: BMW M3 GTR Race Car
Mods: None, nothing but what it came with and a set of R1's.
I wanted to use something that will fit amongst the competition. I thought the M3 GTR Race Car fit perfectly, giving me 122 A-spec points. I don't plan on winning, if I loose I can always b-spec it again. (My rule is, race the race a-spec first, then b-spec it if it needs to be redone.) Oh yeah, all aids turned off.
Competition
Other than myself, i'll be racing against
2000 Ford Falcon XR8
Toyota au Cerumo Supra '01
Mazda RX-8 Concept LM Race car '01
Nissan Pennziol Zexel GT-R '01
Honda Takata Dome NSX '03
Strategy
To win? I have no strategy other than to simply race. I'll pit when needed and that's about it.
and now for the good part. I'll be updating each entry every half hour, taking around 5 minutes to answer questions, provide race details, report mental status, and respond to any comments.
Log
Time: 6:30
Laps: 0
I've fatened myself, drained my body of all waste, and have prepared myself to begin on a 6 hour journey. Enjoy...
Time: 7:00
Laps: 14
So far so good. I had fun during the first 5 laps making clean passes. The Supra was alot of fun to chase. He always pulled on the straights, but lacked in turns (ignorant a.i.). After I made my move, the rest has been trying to pull a best lap. I've gone off the track a few times, really trying to push corners and testing out my boundaries. So far 2'02.708's the best, and i've got a 14 second lead, with the Supra trailing. A few cars have pitted being the Ford and the Rx-8. I'm going to soon, back tires are turning into the red state. I might do it earlier than necessary, just to give up the lead. It's alot more fun playing cat and mouse. One thing i've noticed, the a.i always goes off the track coming out of the 2nd corner of turn 5. Makes for an easy place to pass. Entering turn 8 sucks, it feels really awkard.
Time: 7:30
Laps:24
I pitted on my 15th lap. If I pushed for one more lap, my tires would have been gone. I forget how quickly they wear once they're past the yellow mark. Everyone pitted the previous lap, so I still maintained the same lead. Still the same best time. On Lap 23 I spun out on turn 8 (hate that turn). Costed me my 14 second lead, now im 2 seconds behind the Rx-8. I've been pulling in tiny increments for the past turns. I'll have him soon, at least now I have someone to race for entertainment.
Time: 8:00
Laps: 33
As I was catching back up the Rx-8, he pitted. I spent most of my time just racing to get laps done, not really shooting for times. I'm starting to zone out, where i'm not thinking about the turns. Around the 30th lap I pitted, now the Rx-8 has the lead. It's easy to pull during the complex turns like 2 - 5, and then 11 and 12, but in the lengthy turns they seem to have the upper hand. I closed the 3 second gap I had from pitting on the third lap, now half a second behind. Just have to wait for a good time to make a clean pass. One last thing, I had to take a short break. Not because I wanted to, but because I forgot to do laundry.
Time: 8:30
Laps:42
Starting to get tiresome. I chased the Rx-8 for a few labs before I was able to make my move. I'm starting to get slower laptimes, because i'm not really trying. I run off on the grass more often. I'm pitting now, so hopefully someone will pass me to give me a bit of a challenge.
Time: 9:00
Laps: 55
Getting bored. I put Spirited Away on my computer to pass the time. Yeah, I know it's cheating. I pulled a new best time, 2'01.433. After I pitted on the previous entry, the Rx-8 passed me. I caught up, and in a fight I accidently pushed him off the track. Oh well. Pitting now so he'll have his chance to re-take the lead.
Time: 9:30
Laps: 64
My bones and joints are getting sore. Rx-8 has the lead. I spun out after pitting, giving the Rx-8 a 40 second lead. It pitted but I was still 20 seconds behind. Each quarter I pull 2 seconds closer. I keep spinning out, but i'm tryin gmy hardest to catch up. I feel that spin I took is going to cost me first place
. Oh wellRest of the Log:
I'm writing all of this from memory. I ended up trying so hard to catch the Rx-8 that I forgot to keep entering logs. Needless to say, after about an hour of really focusing, I just couldn't keep up. My pits were out of synch with his. It seemed like there was no hope. After I realized I wasn't going to win, I went back into zone out mode. My driving was done involuntarely by my muscles. After awhile of this, just slowly cruising and mainting second, I spun out badly. I fell back to third place, with the NSX about 30 seconds ahead. For the next hour (5th hour) I was just messing around with him. At this point I was so bored, so tired, and my bones were completely stiff. It was getting late too and I had school the next day
. I kept pushing on, watching The Big Lebowski ("are these the nazi's Walter? No Donnie, these men are nihilist."). During the last hour I was completely out of it. I don't remember much. After the half way mark, I don't remember anything. It's a blur of downshifts and trying not to loose it on turn 8 (that night I swore one day I will visit the actual Suzuka Circuit and piss on that turn). I ended up finishing the race around 3:30. I was mentally toast, and more so physically toast. My joints were in pain, mostly my legs from the awkard position caused by the low chair and low pedal level. I woke up for school still in pain, and during the course of today i've been in pain, but hey it was worth it. I just wish I would have kept the details going so that I could read them today, in a normal state of mind. Fun stuff though (no not really).
and watch my Steve Vai DVD 
or shred it up on my bass 
. yea...something like that.
......gotcha!!!!! 
